Episode 017 – Ohio State v Clemson – Pre-Game

Greetings Hoops Fans, this is Dave Horning for Hoops on Lane Fan Podcast, with a preview of the upcoming game against the Tigers of Clemson to be played on Wednesday, November 29 at 7:15 pm at the Schottenstein Center.

Clemson is this year’s opponent for Ohio State in the 19th Annual ACC-Big 10 Challenge.

Last year, the Big Ten lost the Challenge for the first time since 2008 after five wins and two ties. Ohio State lost to Virginia 63-61.

This year’s match-up between Clemson and Ohio State is a solid match-up between teams ranked just about even.

Ohio State and Clemson had a common opponent: the Tigers of Texas Southern and both teams struggled in the second half against the team from Houston. Ohio State lost its lead as Texas Southern closed to within 2 points, and Clemson lost its big lead as Texas Southern closed to within 5 in the last minute of the game.

The leading scorer for Texas Southern did not play against the Buckeyes, so maybe that is a factor to consider.

Both Ohio State and Clemson had too many turnovers in their last game, Ohio State had 24 against Butler, and Clemson had 19 against Texas Southern. So, ball security could be the deciding factor in Wednesday’s match-up.

The three-point shot is always a big factor. Clemson’s Number 32, Donte Grantham, is their leading scorer at 16 points a game, but it was Senior Clemson guard Gabe DeVoe who scored 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting and made all five of his 3-pointers against Texas Southern.

The Starting lineup for Clemson will feature two forwards and three guards:

Let’s hope that CJ Jackson will continue his scoring contributions as he has scored 19 and 23 points in his last two games.
Coming up next, which two players in Wednesday’s game were teammates last year at that school up North?

Buckeye fans know that Andrew Dakich played last year for the University of Michigan, and transferred to Ohio State as a Graduate Student to use his final year of elgibility. Clemson has a player, Number 5 – 6-9 Senior Center/Forward Mark Donnal from who was Dakich’s teammate last year at that school up North and is now a graduate transfer playing for Clemson. Mark played his high school basketbll at Anthony Wayne High School in Whitehouse, Ohio which is just outhwest of Toledo. Look for his friends and fans to be in attendance at the Schoo on Wednesday.